PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon wildlife managers have begun trapping California sea lions again on the Columbia River at Bonneville Dam.
The federal government last Friday authorized Oregon and Washington state to resume trapping sea lions that eat threatened or endangered salmon and steelhead that gather at the dam on their way upstream to spawn.
Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department spokesman Rick Hargrave said Monday that sea lions that have been branded as troublemakers will be removed and likely euthanized.
He said the program will continue until the fish run ends and the sea lions migrate back to California.
The Humane Society of the United States had blocked the program with a court challenge. But the NOAA Fisheries Service said it has complied with a court ruling. The Humane Society is reviewing it.
